Democrats, Republicans and independents all pay gas taxes. If Republicans view government as score-settling and getting even, then they are not fit to govern.

Rick Snyder should stop this abuse of power. We all deserve to drive on good roads, not just Republicans.

D. O’Donnell

Farmington

GOP attack ad makes Democrat look better

The recent ad campaign by the Republican Governors Association against Michigan gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer, a Democrat, has totally backfired. The ad asserts that Schauer voted in favor of a tax on bottled water while he was a state senator in Lansing. If anything, I am more likely to vote for Schauer after seeing this ad.

Taxing bottled water makes sense. It is a luxury good that promotes waste and hurts the environment. The money raised could have been used to improve education, public safety or social services across Michigan.

It is unfortunate that this legislation wasn’t passed years ago.

I appreciate Schauer’s vote in favor of it, and I thank the RGA for informing me about it.

Nick Monk

Franklin

Lansing should leave education up to pros

While I applaud the Free Press for addressing the issue of why Michigan is so far behind in education, I hope that it is noted that much of the decline seems to have happened when politicians began micro-managing public education.

Please let the professionals do their jobs. And if they aren’t, then by all means replace them with people who will.